SimplySailingOnline.com shows by example how easily you can eliminate stress, become more independent, raise your children in a safer environment (while spending more time with them, instilling values not based on the mighty dollar) and avoid the traps of commercialism. Because we live and sail simply, we have been wandering for 11 years with no intention of stopping. This is not a trip for us; it is our life, and I hope to share our success with stories of laughter and tears, as well as how-to tips and DIY projects for preparing, sailing and making a boat a home, so that others can join us.

Holiday Meal: Simply

December 17, 2012

Our little AS-29 has taught us a lot: about sailing, about living in small(er) spaces, and about cooking. Though we have used a pressure cooker the entire decade or so we have lived on boats, never have we used one the way we do now.

Put the turkey on individual pieces of foil

Because Walküre has no oven, we have had to adapt. I have posted several recipes here. But the greatest joy of using a pressure cooker isn't just to "bake" banana bread with no over, or to cook rice in four minutes. Dave is learning how to combine foods in the pressure cooker to save fuel (especially important on an alcohol stove top) and time. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner, for example, in under 10 minutes. Here's how.

Secure the foil

We have started cooking meat and rice, or meat and potatoes, together in a pressure cooker after reading about the possibility in a cookbook. So, for Thanksgiving, since we have no oven, we decided to cook turkey legs in the pressure cooker. We wanted mashed potatoes and my vote for corn was vetoed this year, so we had yams instead. All three of these we cooked at the same time in the pressure cooker. And no, we didn't have stew. And the stuffing was necessarily cooked separately.

Puncture the foil

Dave wrapped each turkey leg in a piece of aluminum foil, then stuck the package with a knife to allow it to &qout;breath." He cut yams into small pieces, since they take a bit longer to cook than regular potatoes. He then put these chunks in a piece of aluminum foil which he left open at the top. In the bottom of the pressure cooker he put a trivet and enough water to just barely cover it.

Put the yam on foil

Next he places quartered potatoes on the trivet. These pieces have to be large since the potatoes will cook more quickly than the rest of the food in the pressure cooker. (Cooking several things at once is all about timing.) On top of the potatoes went the packages of turkey with the yam package on top. Secure the lid and bring to pressure. He cooked the pot of food for 12 minutes, then allowed it to come down off pressure naturally. While it was cooling, we cooked the stuffing.

Potatoes on the bottom, then turkey

Yams on top

The only part of Thanksgiving dinner that was not quite the same was that we ate our buns cold, rather than steaming hot out of the oven like normal. This method worked so well that we are going to repeat it for Christmas dinner. Since Nick will be home for Christmas, we will have to double everything and there isn't enough room in the pressure cooker for all that food. So I'll probably win the corn wars this time.

Wait a few minutes...

Because of the holidays, we will not be posting for the next two weeks. When we return, the first MONDAY of the new year, it will be with a bit of a surprise. Enjoy the season. Our best wishes to you and yours.